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Mike G., Master Electrician

Category: Electrical

Satisfied Customers: 7104

Experience: Proven Professional 46 years Experience

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I have an issue where my microwave went bad and i replaced

Customer Question

hi i have an issue where my microwave went bad and i replaced it. the new one worked for a short while half a day maybe then blew the microwave fuse, i replaced the microwave fuse then a few minutes later it blew the fuse again but this time it stopped working completley i bought another microwave and same thing but this time a moved it to another seperate circuit, clearly i have an electrical issue but everything else that is plugged in like a warmer and hot pot have no issues, i believe it may be a neutral that may be shared by both circuits or something like that JA: Thanks. Can you give me any more details about your issue? Customer: i also had a transformer to a neon light go bad that was connected to the same outletJA: OK got it. Last thing — Electricians generally expect a deposit of about $18 to help with your type of question (you only pay if satisfied). Now I'm going to take you to a page to place a secure deposit with JustAnswer. Don't worry, this chat is saved. After that, we will finish helping you.

Hi, I'm Mike G and I'll be assisting you. You are correct in that a shared neutral could be a cause of appliance failure. I suggest that the microwave should be on a separate circuit direct to the panel with out a shared neutral. Most electrical circuits are on their own hot and neutr to avoid spikes and low voltage that is the reason for failure. You might consider making a circuit map of the electrical system to know exactly what is on any circuit and make troubleshooting easier. A sheet of paper oer floor, sketch the rooms, put an R for receptacles and an L for lights. With help flipping breakers mark the breaker number next to the letter. You will see it all. When something fails and outlets ahead worm, you will have isolated where to make the corrections.

That's correct. When 2 circuits share a neutral and there is a bad connection on that neutral the voltage will spike on one circuit and drop on the other in relation to the difference of the loads. On receptaclecircuits shared neutrals should not be dependant on connections to devices. They should be made up in a wirenut with a pigtail to the device. If any receptacles are wired with the push back connection, they will fail and cause your type of problem. All wires on devices need to be terminated under screws.